Bill Ackman

I met a professor from Berkeley a couple of years ago who told me that he had been hired by the government as their expert on Herbalife and he got access to all their data, was able to prove that they're a pyramid scheme. But the government ultimately settled with Carl because they were afraid they could possibly lose in court. So they settled with him.

But if you look at the stock, if we'd been able to stay short the entire time, we would have made a bunch of money. Because the stock had a $6 billion market cap and we shorted it. Today it's probably $1 billion. A billion and a half. So you left the short position or whatever that's called. Covered. Closed it out. Yeah. We sold Valiant. We covered Herbalife.

But if you look at the stock, if we'd been able to stay short the entire time, we would have made a bunch of money. Because the stock had a $6 billion market cap and we shorted it. Today it's probably $1 billion. A billion and a half. So you left the short position or whatever that's called. Covered. Closed it out. Yeah. We sold Valiant. We covered Herbalife.

But if you look at the stock, if we'd been able to stay short the entire time, we would have made a bunch of money. Because the stock had a $6 billion market cap and we shorted it. Today it's probably $1 billion. A billion and a half. So you left the short position or whatever that's called. Covered. Closed it out. Yeah. We sold Valiant. We covered Herbalife.

That was the resetting moment for the firm because it would just psychologically... And the beauty of investing is you don't need to make it back the way you lost it, right? You can just... Take your loss. By the way, losses are valuable and that the government allows you to take a tax loss and that can shelter other gains. And we just refocused.

That was the resetting moment for the firm because it would just psychologically... And the beauty of investing is you don't need to make it back the way you lost it, right? You can just... Take your loss. By the way, losses are valuable and that the government allows you to take a tax loss and that can shelter other gains. And we just refocused.

That was the resetting moment for the firm because it would just psychologically... And the beauty of investing is you don't need to make it back the way you lost it, right? You can just... Take your loss. By the way, losses are valuable and that the government allows you to take a tax loss and that can shelter other gains. And we just refocused.

So he's a very charming guy. So in the midst of all this, at the Hollywood one, he took me out for dinner to his favorite Italian restaurant. Really? Yeah. We were in the middle of litigation to see if he could resolve it. And he offered 10 million to my favorite charity. The problem was that it wasn't my money. It was my investor's money. So I couldn't settle with him on that basis.

So he's a very charming guy. So in the midst of all this, at the Hollywood one, he took me out for dinner to his favorite Italian restaurant. Really? Yeah. We were in the middle of litigation to see if he could resolve it. And he offered 10 million to my favorite charity. The problem was that it wasn't my money. It was my investor's money. So I couldn't settle with him on that basis.

So he's a very charming guy. So in the midst of all this, at the Hollywood one, he took me out for dinner to his favorite Italian restaurant. Really? Yeah. We were in the middle of litigation to see if he could resolve it. And he offered 10 million to my favorite charity. The problem was that it wasn't my money. It was my investor's money. So I couldn't settle with him on that basis.

But, you know, I had the chance to spend real time with him at dinner. He's funny. He's charismatic. He's got incredible stories. And, you know, actually I made peace with him over time. We had a little hug out on CNBC. Even had him to my house, believe it or not. I hosted something called the Finance Cup, which is a tennis tournament between people in finance in Europe and the US.

But, you know, I had the chance to spend real time with him at dinner. He's funny. He's charismatic. He's got incredible stories. And, you know, actually I made peace with him over time. We had a little hug out on CNBC. Even had him to my house, believe it or not. I hosted something called the Finance Cup, which is a tennis tournament between people in finance in Europe and the US.

But, you know, I had the chance to spend real time with him at dinner. He's funny. He's charismatic. He's got incredible stories. And, you know, actually I made peace with him over time. We had a little hug out on CNBC. Even had him to my house, believe it or not. I hosted something called the Finance Cup, which is a tennis tournament between people in finance in Europe and the US.

And we had the event at my house. And one guy thought to invite Carl Icahn. And so we had Carl Icahn there to present awards. And again, I have to say, I kind of liked the guy. But I didn't like him much during this.

And we had the event at my house. And one guy thought to invite Carl Icahn. And so we had Carl Icahn there to present awards. And again, I have to say, I kind of liked the guy. But I didn't like him much during this.

And we had the event at my house. And one guy thought to invite Carl Icahn. And so we had Carl Icahn there to present awards. And again, I have to say, I kind of liked the guy. But I didn't like him much during this.

I think it's possible, but again, I try to be extremely economically rational. And actually, the last seven years have been... quite peaceful. I really have not been an activist in the old form for many years. And the vast majority of even our activist investments historically were very polite, respectful cases. The press, of course, focuses on the more interesting ones.

I think it's possible, but again, I try to be extremely economically rational. And actually, the last seven years have been... quite peaceful. I really have not been an activist in the old form for many years. And the vast majority of even our activist investments historically were very polite, respectful cases. The press, of course, focuses on the more interesting ones.

I think it's possible, but again, I try to be extremely economically rational. And actually, the last seven years have been... quite peaceful. I really have not been an activist in the old form for many years. And the vast majority of even our activist investments historically were very polite, respectful cases. The press, of course, focuses on the more interesting ones.

Like Chipotle was one of the best investments we ever made. We've got four of eight board seats in And we worked with management and it was a great outcome. I don't think there's ever been a story about it. And the stock's up, you know, almost 10 times from the time we hired Brian Nicholas, CEO. But it's not interesting because there was no battle.